The race to fill Texas’ 18th Congressional District seat is headed to a runoff. Acting Harris County Attorney Christian Menefee and former Houston City Council member Amanda Edwards expected to finish first and second in Tuesday’s special election, with neither securing the more than 50% of the vote required to win outright.
Menefee has roughly 33% of the vote, while Edwards followed with about 25%, according to tallies from the Houston Chronicle and The New York Times.
Democrat Jolanda Jones placed third with around 19%, and Republican Carmen Maria Montiel trailed with just under 7% in a field of more than a dozen candidates.
The runoff, expected in January, will determine who represents the district through the end of the current congressional term.
But whoever wins will have little time to settle in: the district heads right back into another election cycle in March for its primary under a newly redrawn congressional map ahead of the 2026 midterms.
This is the second time in less than two years that the 18th District has faced a special election. The seat has deep roots in Black political leadership, shaped for nearly three decades by Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee, who passed away in July 2024.
Former Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner won the special election to succeed her, only to pass away from bone cancer in early 2025, less than two months into his term.
Their deaths left the district and the Congressional Black Caucus without two of its most recognizable voices in Washington.
Democrats have criticized Texas Gov. Greg Abbott for delaying the special election timeline, leaving a safe Democratic seat unfilled for most of the 2024 legislative session, a move that narrowed Democrats’ vote count in the House during tight legislative battles.
The January runoff will determine who finishes the remainder of Turner’s term.
But the winner will face an immediate test: running again in March 2026 under new district lines shaped by Texas’ recent redistricting, a process widely criticized for reducing minority political influence.
In short:
- January: Runoff decides who fills the seat temporarily.
- March: New primary opens, potentially with a different candidate field and altered voter base.
- 2026: The winner must run again in the general election to keep the seat.
The next few months will determine who leads it into its next chapter.
